General whose capture put Colombia peace talks on hold is top counterinsurgency strategist

November 20, 2014 4:15 AM

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Claudia Farfan, wife of Army Gen. Ruben Dario Alzate speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at her home in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014. Gen. Alzate, dressed in civilian clothes, was snatched on Nov. 16 by rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, along with two others traveling in a boat through the jungled waterways of western Colombia. President Juan Manuel Santos immediately suspend two-year-old peace talks with the rebel group and ordered a search operation for the highest-ranking officer ever taken by the rebels. (AP Photo/Cristian Alvarez) (The Associated Press)

BOGOTA, Colombia – The general whose capture by rebels has put Colombia's peace talks on hold is one of the country's foremost counterinsurgency strategists who once received his officer's insignia from the hands of U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus.